Post-practice notes from Wednesday (11-30-11)

Spent the better part of the day working on the Chester McGlockton obituary for the paper. Thanks for your patience and understanding, and may God bless McGlockton, his wife Zina and two daughters.
With that said, here are some tidbits from today’s proceedings, the first full practice for the Raiders in preparation for their game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

INJURY LIST NOT SHRINKING
Kicker Sebastian Janikowski is back on the injury report, joining the list of usual occupants. Coach Hue Jackson doesn’t seem too concerned about Janikowski’s left hamstring.
Why should he? Janikowski is fresh from a game in which he set a franchise record by converting all six of his field-goal attempts against the Chicago Bears in a 25-20 victory and being named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
“Maybe he kicked too many field goals,” Jackson said. “You never know. He did an excellent job. Hopefully we’ll get him back out here soon. He’ll be fine. I told you, I’m always going to be cautious with these players. We got some big games down the stretch here.”
Add wide receiver Denarius Moore and defensive end Jarvis Moss to the long list of players who missed practice but weren’t mentioned in an earlier post.
Moore was in full uniform at practice this morning. However, he was deemed not healthy enough to participate, Jackson said. Moss still is recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered against the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 20.
For the record, it’s an ankle that is botherin Moore and not his foot, as Jackson initially reported. Hey, cut Jackson some slack trying to keep track of all the injuries and their corresponding body parts.
Moore said he was on the field Wednesday on a fact-finding misson.
“It was just to really see where I was standing at, as far as this week,” Moore said. “And so we’re still taking it day by day, see how it’s going to go.”
T.J. Houshmandzadeh fielded punts in Moore’s absence.

LOCKER ROOM SCENE
Curious what it was like in the Raiders locker room after they beat the Bears? Here’s a snippet from Jackson singlin out Janikowski and Shane Lechler for their heroics.
Jackson: “We all know they’re the highest-paid kickers in football, But listen to me, listen to me. Truth be told, guys, here’s the deal: the last time this place was 7-4, these two men were here (Janikowski says under his breath, “That’s a long time).” These two men were here and these two guys, today, helped this team get to where (it) needed to be.”
Lechler: “It’s a good deal to be 7-4. Everybody’s happy, but guess what — we’ve got a lot of football to play, men. We’ve got a whole lot of football to play. Some tough games coming up. Let’s keep on the grind. I’m telling you, we’ve got keep on the grind. If you want to keep this feeling, keep grinding…”
Quarterback Carson Palmer said he can’t recall a punter being asked to address the team after a victory. Then again, he added, Lechler is unlike any other punter in the league.
“No, there might not be another one in the league,” Palmer said. “He’s definitely the best punter in the league, but as far as a teammate, a leader, a veteran, a professional, he does everything right. He says the right things. He doesn’t act like a kicker. I wouldn’t put him in that mold. He is just a great teammate.”
Veteran defensive tackle Richard Seymour played for a New England Patriots team that held kicker Adam Vinatieri in high regard.
Seymour said he and his Raiders teammates feel the same way toward Lechler and Janikowski, in large part because they walk the walk.
“Well, obviously, with him being the best punter in the league, that helps,” Seymour said. “Guys listen to guys who get it done. And he’s a combination of both, where he’s a veteran leader and also he’s a great player.”

FOURTH-QUARTER BLUES FELT BY ALL
Palmer wasn’t even with the Raiders when their five-game scoring drought in the fourth quarter started. Yet, he was just as aware of the the ignominious streak.
“I was definitely aware of it,” Palmer said of a streak that ended when running back Michael Bush scored a 3-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter against the Bears. “Especially in that game, we needed that score. But we need more, and we need to find ways to generate more points in the red zone, but also just in the fourth quarter in general.
“At this point in the year, especially with some of the games we have coming up, we have to generate more points in the second half.”

JOHNSON MIGHT PLAY SUNDAY
Cornerback Chris Johnson showed progress by returning to practice last week and being active against the Bears. However, he failed to set foot on the field once the game started.
“He just wanted me to put the pads back on, just in case,” Johnson said of coach Jackson. “I was the emergency guy last week. I just went along with what coach wanted me to do.”
This week?
“I’m getting back in the mix this week,” Johnson said.

CLOSE GAMES A BENEFIT FOR RAIDERS
None of the Raiders seven victories has been by more than 10 points and the difference in those games is only 43 points.
Jackson said the short-term pain of battling through so many tension-filled games will benefit the Raiders in the long run.
“It’s very important because, as you go down the stretch here these games are going to be close, going to be tough,” Jackson said. “We all wish we had those blowouts where you’re sitting in the fourth quarter smiling. But that’s not the way it is in the NFL. Hopefully we’ll have one here soon at some point in time.”
The other benefit is that close games are the kind of affairs that build confidence and character. Jackson said. Maybe so, he added, but it still would be nice to be a part of a laugher.
“Nothing is going to be given to us,” Jackson said. “We understand that. We know it’s going to be tough. This team kind of likes it that way. I don’t like it that way. They’re OK with it as long as it (leads to) wins and wins.”

BUSH HOLDING UP WELL
Bush has averaged 28 carries the past three games as he absorbs the workload in Darren McFadden’s absence. You would be hard pressed to know Bush has been used so much, though.
“He’s been awesome,” Jackson said. “I’ve been around guys that carry the ball like that and then they come to Wednesday practice and they can’t move. Regardless of whether you gave them victory Monday off or not, because physically, it’s tough. He hasn’t batted an eye.”

Even if it happened on Monday, why are you in Alabama and not in Oakland during a game week? The only way the story flies is if he was home for some personal family biz and got the pardon to go from the team…he’s gotta be more professional than that…hopefully; it’s all just hearsay though and it winds up being reported he was in Oakland all of this week and those were just a lot of people in his social circle. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, but right now there’s a whole lotta smh-ing….

raiderinparadise

I have been a big mcclain hater as many of you know. That was purely in his play/lack of effort and physicality.

He is great at getting guys in place before the snap, then he just plays flat75% of the time. The MLB in a 4-3 scheme like ours is the biggest key to stopping the run. He fails misrably at covering RB/TE.

Now he is a 23yr old millionaire thug sorting out gangster drama claiming he has “family issues”. He just wants to kick it with the gansgsters and pay for everyting to get respect.

He is kinda like Russell.

silverback

Repost

Silverback Says:
November 30th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Baumraiders Says:
November 30th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Mclain is very important indeed but for an 8th overall pick lets not fool ourselves, he needs to be better. improvement is nice and all, but next year he need to make the pro bowl. 8th overall pick, think about it.
——
I get the feeling that McClain is not totally dedicated to his craft.

inonewordraider

If I were rich it’d be hard to keep me away from the riff raff just how it is but when ppl are getting shot gotta get away from that circle

raiderinparadise

i thought he just played x-box all the time?

raiderinparadise

you can certainlty cue the bronco.chief/charger fans to be callign raiders players thugs again lol

Hagar the Horrible

Sounds as if Hue is being too easy on guys not wanting to practice. As a first year Head Coach, maybe Hue is trying to be their buddy and their coach at the same time.

Big mistake. Hue you don’t have to be their friend.
Focus on coaching and earning their respect…in the end, they’ll love you just as much. Conditioning wins games in the 4th quarter and maybe that’s why we suck during that part of the game.

MikieG

The Tebow thing is evidence of absurdly bad football by opposing defense…

IT IS ASSIGNMENT BASED DEFENSE…

I have said it a million times. We ran this exact same offense at my High School..

We were VERY successful with it because high school kids play undisciplined Defense, and when you run into a school that does, you gotta go to the air with it…which is why is surprises the HELL out of me that NFL caliber defenses are playing so undisciplined with this thing and not forcing Tebow to throw…

Raiders did it, Jets Did it, Chargers did it..they all did the same thing..individual players lost their discipline, disregarded what their assignment had been the entire game and had been working, jumped out of their ‘House’, and tried to help their neighbor…
THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE TEBOW OFFENSE DOES, IT WAITS FOR YOU TO GET BORED, FRUSTRATED, DOING SOMETHING STUPID, AND BAM, HE’S GOT YOU…Just like ICE MAN in Top Gun..dude, stay with your assignment..

Think of it like having 3 spies..
One guy has the dive back
One guy has the Quarterback
One guy has the pitch back (if there is one on any given play)…

That is it, I swear to GOD..If those guys just glove up to their guy, no matter WHAT HAPPENS, EVERY TIME, EVERY DOWN…This Tebow thing will be over and sent back to whence it came…HIGH SCHOOL..where it belongs.

That is why Denver is barely putting points on the board with this Offense, NFL defenses ARE disciplined till they aren’t 1 or 2 times, and it costs em 7 points, and Denvers D doesn’t suck, so they don’t need many points for a win. Just blows my mind that an NFL defense can’t stay disciplined for 60 full minutes, every play, to stop this Tebow nonsense…

I can only imagine what the film study is like after these teams lose games to that offense..some of the Linebackers, D Ends, and Safeties have to be just hiding under their desks when they see what they have done, and how easy it would have been to stop, had they just stuck to what they were doing instead of trying to “HELP” a teammate..do you f’n job, every single down.

That’s it, there is no mystery to the Tebow Offense, no divine intervention, no touched by the hand of God..Tebow is not beating anyone, DEFENSES ARE BEATING THEMSELVES…

My last post for the rest of my life on the efficacy of the Tim Tebow Sacred Heart Griffin High School Offense circa 1995….